🚗💨 moovel “FlexLA” 🚗💨
Brand Identity
Background: As if Los Angeles traffic wasn’t bad enough… the proliferation of Lyft and Uber on the streets of LA was creating more traffic congestion problems as drivers sat in lanes waiting for passengers. The city also noticed other problems with the ride sharing apps like driver exploitation and low-income residents who were priced out.
Execution: The City of Los Angeles and their transit agencies (LADOT, FASTLink DTLA, Metro) partnered with moovel (a transportation software company, SaaS) owned by the Mercedes-Benz Group AG to create FlexLA — the first-ever publicly-owned ridesharing service, designed to complement Downtown Los Angeles’ existing public transit network.
Unfortunately, FlexLA was discontinued for a lot of reasons, but a great brand identity and campaign wasn’t one of them.
Art Direction
Public transit riders finally had the freedom to hail a ride on-demand without regimented schedules.
The campaign reflected transit riders’ newfound freedom and independence, harkening back to the 70s – a time of self-expression, creativity and individuality.
The branding, messaging and unexpected color palette establish a spirited and a soulful identity, matching the bold, vibrant and colorful personality of Downtown LA’s Art and Fashion Districts as well as its multicultural community.
As a pilot program, FlexLA needed to command attention, especially in a place like Los Angeles, so we targeted current public transit riders
through a robust OOH campaign and the design used the letters “LA” to reinforce that the service is from LA, by LA, and for LA.
FlexLA reduced traffic congestion by using bus stops as designated pick-up spots.
🇺🇸 Jobs For Vets 🇺🇸
The best part about the pilot program is that all of the FlexLA drivers were U.S. Veterans.
They were good paying jobs with full benefits and hey look! There’s former LA Mayor Eric Garcetti talking about FlexLA (in a video that we did not make).
The Team:
Agency: Roundhouse
Creative Director: Robert Medkeff
Associate Creative Director, AD: Clay Nowak | Associate Creative Director, CW: Nate Totten
Designer: Chris Ruppelt | Social Strategist: Sarah Biedak
Director of Account Service: Stacy Garnand | Producer: Rita Badalamenti